As the e-commerce market becomes increasingly competitive, success depends not only on what you sell — but how efficiently you operate across channels and logistics providers. That’s where supply chain analytics becomes a game changer.
In 2025, with rising fulfillment costs, growing environmental regulations, and shifting customer expectations, data-driven logistics isn’t optional — it’s a survival strategy. By collecting, analyzing, and acting on real-time logistics data, retailers can:
Avoid stockouts and improve inventory turnover
Streamline delivery with AI-powered route optimization
Negotiate better rates with carriers using historical shipping data
In 2025, smart inventory management relies on predictive analytics — using historical sales data, seasonality trends, and demand forecasts to ensure you stock the right amount at the right time.
Fact: Industry studies show nearly 74% of retailers struggle with accurate demand forecasting.
That’s why real-time inventory tracking via WMS (Warehouse Management Systems) and integrated analytics platforms is essential. With tools that monitor inventory flow and trigger automated reorders, you avoid both dead stock and empty shelves.
How can you improve fulfillment?
Last-mile logistics is notoriously difficult and inefficient. Software developers and carriers have been working on making the last mile of logistics more efficient since the burst in the growth of e-commerce in the 2010s.
One of the most effective tactics is using AI software that can take data from various sources- weather, traffic prediction models, and historical delivery time data, to optimize delivery routes like never before.
Bargaining power with carriers
This past year in North America, shipping rates for the major carriers rose around 6 percent — more than that if you consider all the small increases in surcharges and new fees tacked on.
The rise in rates and competitiveness in the e-commerce space means that you have to get creative to cut costs where you can. That means using data to gain leverage.
How? By using the one bargaining chip that works best with the carriers when you want them to reduce your rates: Historical shipping data. To get the best rates, you need to have the data to hand over to your carrier.
Sustainability reporting
Starting 2024, the EU’s CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) requires large companies to disclose supply chain environmental and social impacts. Smaller firms will soon follow.
Proactively tracking and reporting on CO₂ emissions, delivery efficiency, and packaging waste is now a competitive and legal necessity.
With the right platform, e-commerce brands can automate sustainability tracking, support B2B partners, and improve brand reputation.
How to collect data
When it comes to collecting data on your supply chain actions, you need a centralized platform that can integrate with all your logistics providers. This may come in the form of a WMS (warehouse management system), TMS (transportation management system), or OMS (order management system.
Although the names differ and they all cater to different areas within logistics, all three of these software have similar purposes at their core: automate processes and collect data constantly to create reports.
A TMS is typically used more by carriers and other transportation companies, useful for tasks like:
Optimizing routes
Tracking shipments
Managing carriers
The WMS is for internal use, and helpful for tasks like managing stock levels, tracking stock movement throughout a warehouse, and forecasting product demand peaks. They are particularly good for helping plan how much inventory to keep on hand, saving you from overspending on storage and making stock-outs less likely.
Then there’s the OMS, which is often capable of managing and collecting data on the entire supply chain journey – from order to delivery. If you can find a great OMS, this platform will be able to collect data and create reports on most of the tasks that the TMS and WMS handle.
Wayfindr has a new OMS to help you collect and analyze logistics data
For those wondering how to collect and take advantage of data from their logistics operations, look no further.
Wayfindr (formerly CBIP Logistics) has created an in-house OMS that can manage the entire logistics process end-to-end, all while collecting data from every step of your logistics and providing you with the most important KPIs to help grow your business.
You might wonder how we are able to collect data on your entire logistics operation so seamlessly. As a global 4PL, we do not own any of the logistics assets we work with (for instance, the warehouses). Instead, we have a vast network of independent providers we work with.
Although those providers are not owned by Wayfindr, we take care to make sure that each one of the providers we work with is integrated into Wayfindr’s OMS platform. All their technology, all the data from their in-house systems, feeds into our platform and ends up in your portal.
Want to learn more about Wayfindr’s new OMS, or just want to take advantage of a totally free logistics consultation with one of our own? Reach out today,
About Author
Nick Bartlett
Co-founder & Director
Nick co-founded Wayfindr to help brands design and build market-leading carbon-neutral D2C logistics. As Director, he brings 15+ years of experience across logistics, marketing, supply chain and retail from Asia Pacific to the world.
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